Element for realizing an assembled footwear with pre-formed parts and a related footwear

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to an element for realizing a footwear comprising a supporting frame ( 10; 20 ) and at least one member ( 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; 21, 22 ) configured to be coupled to the supporting frame ( 10; 20 ). 
     The invention also relates to a footwear comprising one or more of said elements.

The present invention relates to an assembled footwear with pre-formedparts.

More particularly, the invention relates to a footwear and parts of it,which can be obtained starting from a load-bearing reticular structure,on which pre-formed parts forming the upper are successively placed.

Preferably, according to the invention, said parts can be held togetherthrough gluing systems by means of hot/cold technique or by means ofseams or heat seals.

Nowadays, many methods for assembling a footwear are known and manyfootwear made with said methods are also known, according to which partsare generally produced, so as to cover different areas of the foot, andsaid parts are joined together by means of seams.

The conventional stitching, in addition to requiring high costs and longtimes, due to the required labor, often goes to add weight and thicknessin some areas of the footwear, thus causing an uncomfortable use for theuser.

Furthermore, as the sports shoes often requires technical, light and/orbreathable materials, said materials are not always suitable to betreated with a conventional stitching.

An assembled footwear with pre-formed parts having the technicalfeatures of the preamble of the enclosed claim 1 is known for examplefrom US2014/325871A1.

In the context of the above mentioned requirements, therefore, an objectof the present invention is to obviate the above-mentioned technicaldrawbacks and, specifically, to provide elements of a shoe assembledwith pre-formed parts and a related high comfort footwear, which allowsto obtain a high breathability, safeguarding, at the same time, theintegrity of the shoe in its function and the life of said shoe andensuring an appropriate comfort to the foot of the user even for longtimes.

Another object of the present invention is to provide elements of afootwear assembled with pre-formed parts and a related footwear, whichmay be used for any type of footwear and, in particular, for sportsshoes. Another object of the present invention is to provide elements ofa footwear assembled with pre-formed parts and a related footwear whichcan be manufactured at low costs with respect to the advantagesachieved.

A further object of the present invention is to provide elements of afootwear assembled with pre-formed parts, which allow to obtain acomfortable and flexible footwear, especially during the user's walking,while maintaining a stiffness and safe structure and ensuring a highthermal insulation.

The above mentioned and other objects which will become more clear inthe following are achieved by elements of an assembled footwear withpre-formed parts according to the enclosed claim 1; other detailedtechnical features are disclosed in the other claims.

Advantageously, the invention relates to an element for realizing afootwear comprising a supporting frame and at least one pre-formed partconfigured to be coupled to said frame. In this way it is possible torealize pre-formed elements in standard sizes and adapt said elements toa frame made to measure.

A further advantage given by the invention is that the bearing frameworkmay comprise a shaped reticular structure around a suitable form, thusgreatly reducing the weight of the footwear.

Furthermore and advantageously, the pre-formed part may also include aliner and/or a waterproof membrane, which is able to increase thecomfort in use of the footwear.

In any case, it is possible to provide a supporting frame equipped withat least one hole, in order to not only lighten the structure of thefootwear, but also to increase its flexibility.

Advantageously, it is also possible to provide a first pre-formed outerpart, equipped with protruding elements facing towards the oppositedirection with respect to the frame and positioned in correspondence ofthe one or more first holes of the bearing frame. In this way, in fact,it is possible that said protruding elements are adapted to externalstresses without exerting pressure on the frame. For example, if thepre-formed part is constituted by a sole, the protruding elements areable to fall into the hole, independently of each other, so as to adaptthe sole to any irregularities of the ground.

In the same case, alternatively or in addition to the above mentionedfeature, it is also possible to provide a second inner pre-formed parthaving protruding elements that fit inside the holes of the bearingframe, with substantially the same advantage.

In particular, when both of said pre-formed parts are provided, thesecond part exerts a lower elastic resistance with respect to theresistance of the bearing frame, thus softening the movements andincreasing the comfort during walking.

According to the invention, it is also possible to provide on thebearing frame one or more reinforcing lines, adapted to advantageouslyincrease the strength and the protection of the foot during walking.

Advantageously, it is thus possible to include a first outer pre-formedpart, equipped with one or more second holes positioned incorrespondence of said one or more reinforcing lines of the bearingframe, so as to increase the flexibility of the footwear, whilemaintaining the protection of the foot from external stresses.

Still according to the invention, it is possible to couple thepre-formed part to the bearing frame by means of supports made ofmicrofiber or of another equivalent material, which confers a greatstability to the structure, while maintaining the suitable flexibility.

The object of the invention is also the footwear comprising one or moreof said parts, with the advantages already mentioned.

Further characteristics and advantages of the elements of an assembledfootwear with pre-formed parts, according to the present invention, willbe more clear from the following description, with reference topreferred embodiments, and from the enclosed drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows in exploded view a footwear made with the elements of theinvention, according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows the footwear of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a first part of an element of the invention, according to asecond embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 shows a second part of an element of the invention, according tothe second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 shows a front view of the element of the invention, according tothe second embodiment of the invention, in which the first part of FIG.3, the second part of FIG. 4 and a third part are shown;

FIG. 6 shows a first side view of the element of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 shows a second side view of the element of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 shows a bottom view of the element of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 shows a cross-section view of the element of FIG. 5 in a restposition;

FIG. 10 shows a cross-section view of the element of FIG. 5 in a restposition;

FIG. 11 shows a top view of the element of FIG. 5.

With reference to the above mentioned figures, the invention comprisesthe following aspects, starting from the creation of a productconsisting of a supporting or bearing frame 10 (FIG. 1), 20 (FIGS. 3-11)wrapped by the thermoformed components or parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7(FIGS. 1-2), 21, 22 (FIGS. 3-11) which constitute the upper or the sole30.

In particular, thanks to the use of a supporting frame, for example ashaped reticular structure 10, 20 formed ergonomically around a suitableshaping definable from time to time, such as the foot of a user scannedby a 3D scanner and reproduced exactly for a footwear tailored withmodern technologies or such as the forms of a standard foot employed tosimulate the different sizes, it is possible to apply functionalizingelements, such as a lining and/or a waterproof membrane (not shown) bymeans of sewing or gluing at the top or at the bottom of the bearingframe 10, 20.

In detail, for example, said reticular structure 10, which istechnically called with the name of “sock”, can be constituted bysynthetic textile semi-flexible, semi-rigid, plastic or thermoplasticelements, or by a suitable synthetic structure made by molding orsimilar techniques (such as 3D printing), suitable to wrap around thefoot.

The application of functional elements, such as lining ormultifunctional membranes (waterproof, breathable, thermo-insulating,antibacterial membranes), can take place by gluing or sewing saidmembranes in the upper part or in the lower part of the frame.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, each element of the upper, such as thesole 1, the midsole 2, the left flank 3, the right side 4, the upperpart or tab 5, the ferrule 6 and the heel 7, can be made of leather orother textile, synthetic, artificial or natural materials, which arecoupled to the surface of the reticular structure 10 facing towards theoutside, by means of suitable adhesives and/or supports made ofmicrofiber, such as non-woven fabrics or fake leather, suitable to givea great support to the element constituting the upper.

With reference to FIGS. 3-11, also the combination between thecomponents of the midsole and/or of the sole can be made by gluing,stitching or coupling techniques and taking advantage of the adhesivescrystallization method known as “HOT/COLD”, through the use of specificthermo-adhesive glues.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, which is shown infigures from 3 to 11, the shaped reticular structure 20 is made of amaterial with high wear resistance, high abrasion resistance, hightensile and tear strength, good damping capacity and good flexibility atlow temperatures, as well as high resistance to oils, greases, oxygenand ozone.

For example, said material could be a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU).Said reticular structure 20 can be coupled to a lower protection element21 made of rubber and to a higher ergonomic element 22 made of a softermaterial, for example ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA).

Preferably, the reticular structure 20 has a series of holes 23 andreinforcement lines 24.

Equally preferably, the lower protection element 21 made of rubber hasprotruding elements 25, facing towards the opposite direction withrespect to the reticular structure 20, and/or holes 26.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the protrudingelements 25 of the lower protection element 21 are positioned incorrespondence of the holes 23 of the reticular structure 20, and/or theholes 26 of the lower protection element 21 are positioned incorrespondence of the reinforcing lines 24.

In this way, advantageously, the protruding elements 25 are able toadapt the sole to the irregularities of the ground, keeping the comfortfor the user.

The particular combination of the reticular structure 20, the bottomprotection element 21 made of rubber and the upper ergonomic element 22allows that each protruding element 25 could go back independently ofthe other adjacent elements, only with the resistance of the upperergonomic element 22, which is made of a soft material so as to opposelittle resistance and allow a slight movement of said elements.

As can be seen from FIGS. 9 and 10, preferably, the ergonomic element 22is configured so as to adapt to the shaping of the reticular structure20 and to fill all said holes 23. In other words, the cross-sectionviews of FIGS. 9 and 10 show how the ergonomic element 22 has acomplementary shape with respect to the shape of the reticular structure20, which is equipped with protruding elements corresponding to theholes of said reticular structure 20.

In detail, the individual pre-formed components or parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, 7, 21, 22 can be applied to the reticular structure 10, 20 by gluing,sewing or coupling techniques exploiting the adhesives crystallizationmethod known as “HOT/COLD”, or through the use of specificthermo-adhesive glues. Thanks to the winding of the pre-formedcomponents 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 21, 22 around the reticular structure10, 20 and thanks to the whole assembly among said pre-formedcomponents, it is possible to obtain the footwear 30 assembled frompre-formed parts as shown in FIG. 2.

Furthermore, by means of a thermoforming process and thanks to theadoption of specific male-female molds at certain pressure andtemperature values, a desired pre-bending (or pre-forming) of the singleparts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 is obtained.

Finally, the invention thus conceived is susceptible to numerousmodifications and variants, all falling within the inventive idea of theattached claims; moreover, all the details may be replaced with otherelements which are technically equivalent.

In particular, the footwear thus obtained can have a different number oflayers, ensuring the same way said desired features of comfort.

Finally, the materials employed, as well as the dimensions may be anyaccording to requirements and the state of the art.

Where the features and techniques mentioned in any claim are followed byreference signs, those reference signs have been included for the solepurpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordinglysaid reference signs do not have any limiting effect on theinterpretation of each element identified by way of example by saidreference signs.

1-6. (canceled)
 7. Element for realizing a footwear comprising asupporting frame (10; 20) which comprises a reticular structure shapedaround a suitable object and which has one or more first holes (23), andat least one thermo-formed member (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; 21, 22)configured to be coupled with the supporting frame (10; 20) forrealizing the upper or the sole of said footwear, characterized in thata first pre-shaped external member (21), configured to be coupled tosaid supporting frame (20) for realizing the sole of said footwear, isequipped with protruding elements (25) facing to the direction opposedto the supporting frame (20) and placed in correspondence with said oneor more first holes (23) of said supporting frame (20) and a secondpre-shaped internal member (22) is equipped with protruding elementswhich may be inserted within said one or more first holes (23) of saidsupporting frame (20); characterized in that said supporting frame (20)has one or more reinforcement lines (24) and said first pre-shapedexternal member (21) is equipped with one or more second holes (26)placed in correspondence with said one or more reinforcement lines (24)of said supporting frame (20).
 8. Element for realizing a footwearaccording to claim 7, characterized in that said member (1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, 7; 21, 22) comprises a liner and/or a waterproof membrane.
 9. Elementfor realizing a footwear according to claim 7, characterized in thatsaid member (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; 21, 22) is coupled with saidsupporting frame (10; 20) by means of microfiber supports.
 10. Footwearcomprising one or more elements for realizing a footwear according toclaim 7.